A new video from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco explains the link between health and community development in less than four minutes. The top contributors to long-term health and life expectancy may be surprising to most. As it turns out, only a fraction of what affects our health is actually related to healthcare. To truly improve outcomes, we need to look beyond healthcare at a variety of factors that impact health, and the community development sector is poised to address this challenge.

Three new case studies from the National Housing Conference addresses how better housing can lead to improved health outcomes. The case studies, Collaborating with Housing Quality Stakeholders to Reduce Home Health Risks, Addressing Housing as a Health Care Treatment and Using Health Care Savings to Construct Supportive Housing in New York, affirm previous research showing that access to stable and affordable housing is an important social determinant of mental, physical and emotional health. When housing is unaffordable or located in high-stress environments, residents tend to experience …

A street that’s made safer for an older adult to cross is also safer for a child walking to school, a parent pushing a stroller, a bicyclist, a jogger, a commuter, a shopper. In other words, a walkable community benefits everyone. That’s one reason AARP Livable Communities is working both nationally and locally to help towns, cities and neighborhoods become more livable and walkable for people of all ages. Among the other reasons? According to AARP research, nearly eight out of 10 people over the …

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco recently published a study to shine a light on the inner workings of a collaborative partnership that works on behalf of low-income communities, illustrating both the challenges and the lessons learned from such efforts. “Building a Cross-Sector Coalition: Sustainable Communities for All and CA’s Cap-and-Trade Program” by Laura Choi reveals insights from a new cross-sector coalition called Sustainable Communities for All that successfully championed a joint platform that prioritized social equity and proposed allocating a significant percentage of …

A new, free ebook from Next City, The Public Life Reader, is available to download. In this 50-page collection of articles and essays, Next City explores the public spaces that define our cities. With a mix of original reporting and reflection by urban design practitioners, The Public Life Reader illuminates critical questions about how to create public spaces that bring people together across racial, cultural and class lines.

A research summary from the Center for Housing Policy shows how stable, decent, and affordable housing has a strong link to positive health outcomes. The report offers pathways through which affordable housing influences the health of people of all ages.